Insomniatic
by corahaale
Summary: There are a lot of things that could describe Aurora Gallagher, but stupid isn't one of them. Until her dumb-ass cousin and best guy friend convinced her to go out into the woods before the first day of school, causing her and her cousin to become something that shouldn't be real. Sleepless nights, here she comes...
1. Holding On

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest Teen Wolf creation that is destroying me inside and out. Seriously though, why do I keep on doing this to myself? Oh, it's because this is so much better than actual life! Grr… Anyways, on that note, I present to you my lovely audience my new Teen Wolf story, Insomniatic, and my new OC, Aurora Gallagher. Reviews and critique would be wonderful!**

 **Disclaimer: Do not own Teen Wolf, nor do I own 4:35 A.M. by Gemma Hayes.**

The waves on Malibu Beach were crashing down on the shores like an angry symphony. It was amazing to watch because of the perfect harmony it radiated. As she watched the waves hurtle and collide with one another, Aurora "Rory" Gallagher immediately knew that she wouldn't want to be anywhere else, but here.

She didn't live in Malibu, but the beach reminded her of her mom and the good times they, her older brother Zach, and later her stepfather, Carlos, had not too long ago. Malibu had been the place where she learned, and later fell in love with, surfing.

Of course, she only did surfing for fun. Living in a town that was a couple of _hours_ away from the ocean left little options for surfing competitions, but that's fine with her. Rory preferred soccer anyways.

Ugh, even in her inner musings, she was rambling.

As she sat on top of her surfboard, waiting for her next wave, Rory's thoughts drifted back to what laid ahead the next day. The first day of school was upon her once again, and she was _not_ looking forward to it.

If you knew her personally, you could say Rory had a pretty tough life. At the age of just 2 years old, her father, who was a sniper for the military along with her uncle Patrick, was killed in combat. He left her mother, Beth, a widow with two young kids behind, and it had been rough for a while after that.

To keep herself occupied, her mother focused on her and Zach while also putting her time into her work. Things were beginning to look up when she met Carlos, and by the time they got married… well, you probably understand where this is going.

However, life threw her family another curveball when one day, at the tender age of 10, Aurora began feeling dizzy and nauseous at school. She ignored it for most of the day, but that was a bad idea on her part when she fainted in the middle of class. They all thought it was just a virus; nope, God just had to give her cancer.

Fucking cancer!

She went immediately into treatment after that. Aurora had wanted to kick cancer in the ass, so she did not complain at all when the chemo made her feel like shit. However, the chemo had made most of her hair fall out, leaving her to shave her head bald. It also caused her classmates to ostracize her, except for her best friend, Erica Reyes, her cousin, Scott McCall, her other friends, Stiles Stilinski, Vernon Boyd, and Isaac Lahey, and her soccer teammates.

To top off the cherry of her messed up life, before Aurora began high school, her mother and stepfather were killed in a horrible car accident. It left her and Zach, who was starting his sophomore year of college, orphans. Their uncle Patrick and their aunt Vivienne believed that the siblings should be closer to them, their family; but, in the end, they both decided it would be best if Aurora stayed in Beacon Hills to finish high school.

Their aunt Melissa, being the most amazing person in the world, decided that she would take the two of them in until Zach finished college. Once he was settled after graduating, Rory would move in with him permanently. So, now, she just had to get through three more treacherous years of high school, and then she's out of here.

Rory was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts when a wave crashed over her. Losing her grip on her board, she kicked as hard as she could towards the surface. As soon as her blond head popped out of the water, she took a long gulp of air and coughed the seawater out of her lungs.

 _Oh Crap!_ She thought. The sky was just beginning to darken slightly as the sun started going down.

 _Melissa's going to kill me!_

Rory immediately began paddling to shore as fast as she could. Once she was near shallow water, she got off her board and immediately ran to her stuff on the beach.

Quickly drying herself off, Rory peeled off her wetsuit as fast as she could while grabbing her t-shirt and shorts and throwing them on over her bathing suit. As soon as she jammed her Birkenstocks onto her feet, she packed up the rest of her things and ran to her car, which was parked not too far ahead.

She quickly opened up the back of her blue Volkswagen van and stuffed her surfboard in as securely as she could. After closing the back, Rory ran up to the driver's side, where she quickly slid in and dumped the rest of her equipment in the passenger's seat. She turned her keys in the ignition, and as soon her precious van roared to life, she was off!

It takes awhile to get from Malibu to Beacon Hills, but traffic should have died down by now. She should be good for a while, so in order to rid the van of silence, Rory put in a random CD from her consul and lodged it in. One of her favorite songs immediately started playing as she continued driving down the highway.

 _Driving, so slow_

 _Street side empty as we go_

 _Back over the canal_

 _We've all had a long day and we're going home_

After a couple long hours of driving, she managed to pull up into her aunt Melissa's neighborhood. Rory pulled up to the house, noticing that it was completely dark, sans the light coming from Scott's room on the second level.

 _Oh right, I forgot Melissa has a late shift tonight at the hospital._

Turning off the ignition, Rory grabbed her equipment from the passenger's seat and got out of the van, deciding to leave her surfboard in the back, as she was too tired to grab it.

When she got closer to the front porch, her ears picked up two sets of voices that were quickly rising up in volume. Knowing immediately whom the two voices belonged to, Rory quietly sneaked over to see her two favorite boys; one holding a baseball bat and looking intrigued while the other was hanging upside-down on the vines that covered the house.

"Two joggers found a body in the woods!"

"A dead body?!"

She watched as Stiles Stilinski, one of her and Scott's best friends since preschool, flipped off from the branch he was hanging off of and looked at his best friend incredulously.

"No, a body of water. Yes, you dumbass, a dead body!"

Deciding to make her presence known, Rory walked up the steps and said, "What are you guys up to?"

Both guys jumped about a mile from where they were standing while letting out shrieks of fright. Stiles's shriek actually sounded feminine, which made Rory giggle.

"Rory, what the hell?!"

"Do you want me to die of a heart attack?!"

Letting out a laugh at the ridiculousness of her boys, Rory shrugged and responded, "Well, it would probably make my life easier if that happened."

Scott smirked at her. "I see you had a nice time today."

He gestured to her surfing gear, which was beginning to drip heavily onto the wooden floor. She rolled her eyes at him and his smug attitude. "Shut it Scott, I needed to go. I'm seriously dreading tomorrow, it's going to be such a pain in my ass."

"Hey, I get it," said Scott, coming over to pull her into one of his hugs. "You've had a rough couple of years, so I completely understand."

Rory sent him a small smile at his attempt to cheer her up as she turned to Stiles. "Now, what's this I heard about a dead body?"

He shot her a grin as he explained how his dad got a call about two joggers who found the body of a girl in her late twenties in the woods. However, there was a twist to the tale.

"The best part is…" Stiles paused for dramatic effect. "They only found half of the body."

"Say what?!" exclaimed Rory. "How could there only be half of it?"

"How should I know?"

"Because you were the one listening in to your dad's phone calls?"

"Whatever," Stiles replied, waving his hand indifferently. "Getting back to the point, we are going to look for it."

Rory sent a glare towards him that sent shivers down his spine (she was known for having very scary glares). "Hell to the no, Stiles. I am completely exhausted from stressing out about tomorrow. Besides, if I want to be ahead of the Queen Bitch, I gotta be at my best."

"The Queen Bitch" was her and Erica's name for Lydia Martin, the most popular girl at Beacon Hills High. Stiles has had a huge boner for her since the third grade, and it was sickening.

Poor Erica has always had a major crush on Stiles, for as long as he's liked Martin. That was her reason for their little name; Rory's reason came was because she thought the redhead was a frigid cold bitch, and she never liked how she brushed Isaac off when he asked her out on a date. Plus, they were rivals when it came to their GPA.

"Why do you have to call her that?"

"Because that's what she is?"

"Alright, that's enough you two," said Scott, cutting in. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, Rory. I know you've been feeling… under the weather recently."

Only Scott and Erica knew that her cancer had been showing signs of returning. Of course, Melissa and Zach knew as well, but she made them all swear that no one else would know. Rory was sick of the sympathizing stares and whispers behind her back. She didn't want pity… she just wanted to forget. Plus, she didn't want to lose all of her hair again. She only just got it back to its long length after all!

Thinking over everything quickly, she let out a frustrated sigh and told them, "Just… wait a couple of minutes, and let me put away my gear."

Once Rory was safely inside, Scott and Stiles did a low high five.

True to her word, she came out after about 5 minutes. However, a pair of distressed jeans, an oversized tan sweater, and white Converse replaced her surfing outfit. Her long blonde hair, light from all the sun she got over the summer and still wet, was up in a messy bun.

"All right," Rory sighed. "Let's get this shit show over with."

* * *

"I changed my mind, I don't want to be here. Can we go now?"

As soon as Stiles parked the car, he and Scott immediately jumped out and started walking at a fast pace. Rory, however, had remained her seat, staunchly refusing to budge. Both boys had to pull her out themselves before they all continued forward.

While Stiles was ignoring her words and charging full speed ahead into the preserve, Rory made sure to hang back and huddle next to Scott as she knew that his asthma was flaring up, thanks to the hill they were currently walking up. She was also lagging because her energy was draining fast, thanks to the return of El Cancer.

"Please Stiles!" she begged to their shaven-haired friend, looking around frightened. "Can we just go now? Your dad's going to catch us if we stay out any longer!"

"Rory's right, man," her cousin managed to wheeze out. "We should go back to the Jeep."

"You two are the ones always bitching about how there's nothing to do," snapped Stiles. "So no, we're staying out here."

"You know that you're talking about Erica, right?" corrected Rory.

Rolling his eyes, Stiles turned back around to trek forward, but the next words from his best friend's mouth stopped him in his tracks.

"Uh Stiles, just out of curiosity, what half of the body are we looking for?"

Slowly turning back to face the two cousins, Stiles answered "Huh… I didn't think about that." With that, he faced forward and continued on at a face pace.

"Stiles, what if whoever killed the girl is still out there?"

He stopped in his tracks again. "That… is something else I didn't think about."

The glare the blonde was sporting on her face made Stiles lose the grin as fast as you could say, "Bob's your uncle".

"Stiles Stilinski, I am going to kill you!" she whispered menacingly.

"Good to see you thinking this through," said Scott sarcastically.

All of a sudden, in the distance, there was a sudden influx of barking down the hill. This leads to Stiles breaking out into a fast sprint, leaving Rory and Scott behind whispering to him to stop.

Scott must have seen something, however, because he managed to quickly grab ahold of Rory's arm and pulled her behind a big oak tree. She turned around to give him a piece of her mind, but he brings a finger to his lips and points toward Stiles, who had just been caught by his dad.

"Hold on, this little delinquent belongs to me," Sheriff Stilinski told the other deputies. "Do you have to listen to all of my phone calls?"

"Not the boring ones," chuckled Stiles nervously.

"Where are your usual partners in crime?"

Both Scott and Rory froze, afraid of what would happen if they even moved an inch.

"Oh, you mean Scott and Rory? They stayed home, wanted their beauty sleep… Rory a bit more than Scott…"

Scott noticed his cousin tense up at their friend's blatant lie, and quickly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

All of a sudden, a light flashed in their general direction, leading the two of them to suck their bodies even tighter against the tree.

"Scott? Aurora? You out there?" came the Sheriff's voice. After a couple of minutes, where the two cousins barely _breathed_ , much less moved, they heard Stiles's dad give a sigh and walk away from the tree they were hiding behind.

Turning back to his son, the Sheriff told him, "You and me, mister, are going to have a long talk about something known as invasion of privacy."

Scott and Rory listened as Stiles let out a screech of pain (no doubt from his father pulling at his ear) and waited until the noise of the police dogs and officers faded in the distance.

"Well, that was a total rip-off," she grumbled while brushing the dirt and leaves off of her jeans. "Now, how the hell are we going to get home?"

"I don't know, but we should've known that this was a bad idea from the start," replied Scott.

Letting out a sigh, Rory took a look around the area of woods they were in. "I think we came from that direction. So, we should try going that way, and hopefully, we'll be out of the woods fast and quick."

"And you won't have to kill Stiles?" asked her cousin, who was smirking in delight.

"Yeah, that too."

The two of them slowly started in the direction the blonde pointed in, stumbling every once in awhile thanks to Scott's asthma and a wave of dizziness that overcame Rory a few times.

However, one of the few times they stopped to catch their breath, both of them felt the ground rumbling as though an earthquake was happening. Scott turned around, and saw a big group of deer running as if they were being chased by something.

"Rory, watch out!" he yelled as he jumps toward her and pushed the two of them to the side. They both lose their footing, however, and rolled down a steep hill. Scott landed on the forest floor with a loud _oomph_ , which became even louder when Rory landed right on top of him with a screech.

With a groan, Rory rolled off of her cousin while taking a look of their surroundings. "Scott," she whimpered. "I don't know where we are."

Sitting up, Scott felt his pocket for his inhaler. However, when he didn't feel it, he started sifting through the leaves in hopes that it landed near him and his cousin.

"Aw, shit! Rory, I think I lost my inhaler!"

"Oh fuck! Melissa's going to kill you!"

As he got up, Scott pulled out his phone in order to turn on the flashlight app and looked around the forest floor… until he saw the dead body only a couple of feet from where he and Rory were standing. He let out a shout as he scrambled away from it. His cousin spun around to see what was the problem, but upon seeing the body, she let loose a shriek of horror. However, Rory stopped when she got a good look at the face.

"Oh my god, Scott, I think I know who this is…"

"What?!"

"I'm serious, I think… no, I'm _positive_ I know who this is."

"Well, don't leave me here in suspense! Who is it?"

Before Rory could answer him, they both heard a low growl coming from behind them. Slowly turning around, the two of them saw a big black shape with glowing red eyes.

"Aurora, run," murmured Scott. "Run right now."

Knowing she didn't need to be told twice (besides, Scott used her full name), Rory hightailed it out of there. As she was running, she heard the thing roar and a scream of pain that must of come from her cousin.

"Scott!" she screamed, coming to a full stop at the sound of his scream. In a completely stupid move that she (and Scott) would later berate herself on, Aurora Gallagher turned back to where her cousin laid and ran back towards him. She didn't get that far, though, because the thing that had jumped Scott managed to knock her clean over.

Rory let out a scream of fear that soon became a scream of agony as it bit into her right side and threw her aside like a ragdoll. Dizzy with the pain, she barely noticed two arms pulling her up and holding her tight as they ran away from whatever that thing was. She did, however, became lucid enough to notice that Scott had managed to lead them to the highway before two lights started coming towards them. Frozen in fear, the two teens watched the car beep as it managed to avoid hitting them by swerving the other direction.

Scott and Rory stood standing in the rain, breathing heavily as they looked at each other. Slowly, they each pulled up their tops to look at the near identical bite marks on their right sides.

"What are we going to do, Scotty?" the blonde whispered.

"I don't know Rory," replied her cousin, shaking his head. "I don't know…"


	2. Letting Go

**Welcome to chapter two of Insomniatic! I hope you all are enjoying Aurora's journey as much as I like writing it, and just a reminder to please review! I would love to know everyone's thoughts as I continue to write.**

 **Disclaimer: Do not own Teen Wolf.**

As Rory got dressed for the first day of school, her mind flashed back to what happened last night. It especially liked to replay the part where she and Scott got bitten by some deformed-looking creature.

 _What was that thing that attacked us?_

Slowly, she pulled up the bottom of her baggy white t-shirt to reveal her right side all bandaged up with gauze. She watched as her fingers gently glided over the bandage, her thoughts once again going back to the night before.

A knock on her door brought Rory out of her disturbing reflections, and she looked up to see Scott leaning against her doorway. "Hey, you ready?"

"Yeah," she replied, and she quickly grabbed her army green canvas backpack while walking towards her cousin.

"You okay?" asked Scott, looking concerned at how distracted Rory was acting.

"Sorry, I just…" Rory trailed off, not sure how to continue. "I keep on thinking about last night."

"I do too," he reassured her, pulling her into his arms for a hug. "Hopefully, Stiles might be able to give us some answers."

"Yeah."

Once Rory shut off her bedroom lights, the two of them were halfway down the hallway when Scott stopped her again.

"Before we leave, I just wanted to say I think you look great."

"Aw, thanks Scott!" she exclaimed, touched. She really was only wearing a plaid scarf over the t-shirt, along with black jeans and her white Converse. Her long blond hair, however, was in sort of a loose braid that was half normal and half fishtail.

As they passed the front door, they each grabbed their gear, soccer and lacrosse, and got into Rory's van. Turning on the ignition, she drove off to Beacon Hills High School for their first day of sophomore year.

* * *

"Ew, I don't want to be here," Rory whined as she pulled into the school's parking lot. Already, she could feel the dread just seep all the way through her body.

"Don't remind me," said her cousin. "Drop me off by the bike rack, I need chain my bike up."

"When the hell did you get your bike into my van?!"

"This morning, while you were still getting ready."

"Oh…"

Rory let Scott get out and grabbed his bike from the trunk of her van. Once he had closed the back, she parked about two spaces down from the bike rack. As she was getting out of the van with all of her things, she heard the roar of Jackson Whittemore's Porsche pull in right next to where her cousin was standing.

Rory watched as Scott got hit from behind as Jackson got out of his oh-so precious car.

"Dude," Whittemore glared at him. "Watch the paint job."

Scott glared right back as he walked away from him, and Rory gave the finger to his back as he walked pass her.

"Man, I hate him," muttered Scott as he walked up to her.

"I don't like him either, even though he surprisingly tolerates me."

It was true though. Jackson and Aurora had an unexpectedly cordial relationship with one another. Rory personally believes it's because Jackson has a lot of respect for her skills out on the soccer field, although she hasn't been out playing that much thanks to El Cancer. A downside, though, to her… relationship (if you could call it that) with Jackson is that it makes Lydia Martin be even more of a bitch to her and her friends.

When they suddenly heard their names being called out, the two cousins turned to see Stiles running towards them. When he reached them, Stiles immediately began rubbing his hands together. He didn't even stop to take a breath.

"Okay," he said. "Let's see this thing."

Looking around, both Scott and Aurora lifted up their shirts to show their bandaged sides. Stiles gaped at the wounds while reaching up to touch Scott's. However, once his hands made contact, Scott winced away while he and Rory pulled back down their shirts.

"It was too dark to see much," said Scott as the three of them started walking towards the school entrance. "But, we're pretty sure that it was a wolf."

"A wolf bit you?!" Stiles questioned doubtfully. "No, not a chance."

"We heard a wolf howling."

"No, you didn't."

"What do you mean 'no, we didn't'? How do you know what we heard?"

"Because California doesn't have wolves!" exclaimed Stiles. "Not in, like, sixty years."

"Really?" Poor Scott looked so confused. Rory nodded her head in agreement to their friend's answer.

"Well, if you don't believe us about the wolf," said Rory, taking over for her cousin. "Then, you're definitely not going to believe us when we tell that we found the body. Plus, I think I might know who she is."

"What?!" Stiles cried out, flailing his arms all over. "Are you kidding me?"

"I wish," muttered Scott. "I'm going to have nightmares for a month."

"The nightmares have already started for me," Aurora murmured back. Last night, she could barely fall asleep last night because her mind kept on going over the bite (in slow motion too).

"That is frickin' awesome!" Stiles giddily said, looking like his birthday came a couple months early. "I mean, this is seriously going to be the best thing to happen to this town since… since the birth of Lydia Martin."

It was at that point that the 'oh-so great' Lydia Martin breezed past them while talking to a friend. Aurora had already started glaring at her while Scott just shot a passing glance at her. Stiles, however, was practically drooling at the sight of her. _Disgusting._

"Hey Lydia," Stiles said, trying to act all cool and suave. "You look like…"

"Like you're going to ignore me," he finishes, watching as she walked into the school without even sparing him a passing glance.

"You disgust me," mutter Aurora as she and Scott began walking into the school while Stiles continued to stand idly by.

* * *

As the three friends slid into their desks for their first class, the bell gave a last ring, signifying the start of the day. Aurora immediately began pull out her notebook, folder, and favorite blue pen out of her backpack when the teacher immediately began telling the students that yes, a body was found in the woods last night. However, under no circumstances were the students allowed to think about it as the police already had a suspect in custody. With that, he handed out the syllabus to everyone and told them to look at the front page.

She was already beginning to doze off when, all of sudden; a shrill ringing assaulted her ears. Rory grimaced in pain while putting her hands over her ears. While looking around to see who's cellphone was going off, she noticed two things: Scott seemed to experience the same thing as her, and no one in the room seemed to be answering the ringing.

The ringing unexpectedly stopped, which caused both Scott and Rory to look around in confusion. That was when an unfamiliar _female_ voice came across both their ears.

"Mom, three calls on my first day is a little over-doing it, don't you think?"

Both teens turned to look outside the window. There, sitting on a bench outside the school entrance, was a girl around their age, who was rummaging through her purse while talking on the phone. She had long dark hair and was wearing a tan jacket over a gray shirt with dark jeans, and tan boots.

Rory raised her eyebrow at this, and turned to look at her cousin. He looked confused and a bit dazed.

 _Hmm…_

The two of them watched as she ended the conversation she was having on her phone and stood up when the school's principal, Mr. Allen, sauntered up to her. Together, the two of them walked into the school together.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. From what I gathered, San Francisco is where you grew up?"

The girl shook her head while saying, "No, but we lived there for a whole year, which is a bit unusual for my family."

Mr. Allen nodded his head in understanding. "Well, hopefully, Beacon Hills will be your last stop for awhile now."

Aurora continued to listen to their footsteps in shock, until they suddenly stopped in front of their door. She only managed to exchange a quick look of disbelief with Scott before the door opened to reveal both Mr. Allen and the girl. They both stepped in through the door just as Allen began addressing the entire room.

"Class, this is our new student: Allison Argent. I want you to do your best to make her feel welcome here."

With that, he left the room, leaving Allison to find a seat as the teacher continued to drone on about something to do with metamorphosis.

Rory watched as she took a seat behind Scott and started to open up her bag. Scott, however, turned around and held up a pen to her. Looking surprised, Allison took the pen and said thanks with a smile.

With a smirk, Rory turned back to the front, already planning to meddle between her favorite cousin and the new girl.

* * *

Once the bell rang, students began filing out of classrooms, eager to leave as soon as humanly possible.

Rory had immediately walked up to her locker, already decorated with pictures of her family and friends, with the occasional soccer quote and surfing sticker. As she started to unload her books from her backpack into her locker, she heard someone come up next to her and open the locker caddy-cornered to hers. Looking up, she noticed the new girl putting some of her books inside.

Looking over to see Scott watching her while at his locker, Rory saw an opportunity and decided to speak up.

"Hi."

Jumping a little in surprise, the new girl turned around and, upon seeing her, lit up with a smile. "Oh, hi! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Rory assured her. "I would be jumpy too if I were you. Aren't you the new student? I think I saw you in my English class."

"Oh yes! You were sitting next to me," exclaimed the new girl.

"Yep, that was me. My name's Aurora."

"Like the princess?"

"Yeah, like the princess," responded Rory with a little laugh. "She's actually my favorite princess, so it's really not a big deal for me. However, you can just call me Rory. That's what all my friends call me."

"It's nice to meet you Rory," the new girl said with a bright smile. "My name's Allison."

"Nice to meet you Allison," Rory grinned. "So, how are you liking your first day here?"

"It's not too bad; to be honest, I think Beacon Hills might be better than the last school I went to," responded Allison.

"Wow! Never thought I'd hear someone say that about Beacon Hills High."

"Why? Do you not like it here?"

Rory hastened to explain herself. "Oh no, the education here is actually not that bad. It's some of the people here that I have some issues with, that's all."

"Who are they?" asked Allison confusedly.

Just then, a whiff of perfume assaulted Rory's nose, signaling the arrival of Lydia Martin. "Exhibit A," she murmured to Allison, who gave a slight nod as the redhead stopped in front of the two girls.

"That jacket," she said while pointing to the article of clothing itself on Allison, "is absolutely killer. Where'd you get it?"

Shooting a nervous look at her new friend, Allison answered, "Thanks, my mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco."

Looking impressed, Lydia pointed at the dark-haired girl and said, "And, you are my new best friend."

Aurora let out a snort at that, causing the redhead to turn towards her with an overly sweet expression on her face. "Oh, hello there Aurora. Didn't see you there."

"Martin," she responded stiffly.

"Ready to have your GPA destroyed?"

"Please, it's going to be you who's GPA will be destroyed," said Rory, looking smug. "Always hiding your smarts behind your shallowness, I'm surprised that you don't just become Barbie already. All looks, and no personality."

Lydia looked like she was going to claw her face off while Allison looked between the two nervously. That was when Jackson Whittemore announced his presence with a strong whiff of expensive cologne and proceeded to attack Martin's face with his lips.

"Oh disgusting," said Rory, looking like she was going to puke. Allison looked a little repulsed as well. After a couple of minutes, the two resurfaced, leaving Whittemore to charmingly smile at the two girls.

"So, this weekend, there's a party," Lydia said, turning towards Allison again.

"A party?" Allison squeaked nervously.

"Yeah, Friday night," spoke up Whittemore. "You should come."

Turning towards Rory, who had turned back to her locker, he said, "Gallagher, you're invited too. In fact, the whole soccer team is invited."

Grabbing her history textbook, she proceeded to shut her locker door and turn back saying, "Thanks, but you know my rule Whittemore, I don't go unless my other friends go. My girls know how much they mean to me, so they'll understand if I can't make it."

"Oh, well, that's too bad…" Martin started saying, but Whittemore interrupted her saying, "All right, fine. Your friends can come along too."

"What?" asked Rory in shock. Martin also looked shocked, furiously gaping at her boyfriend as he shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I'm feeling generous."

"Of course you are," she responded, rolling her eyes. "All right, fine. I'll be there. But, if you so much as make one wrong move towards any of my friends, I will cut you. Got it?"

He nodded just as Allison spoke up, "Oh, I can't, it's Family Night this Friday. Thanks for asking, though."

"You sure?" asked Whittemore, looking shocked that anyone would turn down the chance for a party. "Everyone's going after the scrimmage."

"Don't pressure her, Whittmore!" growled Aurora. "She doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to."

Looking grateful for her friend speaking up, Allison also looked confused as she asked, "You mean like football?"

All three stared at Allison like she was crazy. "Football's a joke here, are you kidding?" Whittemore stated incredulously. "The sport here is lacrosse; we've won the state championship for the pass three years."

"Same with soccer," Aurora told her new friend. "The girls' team won state two years in a row now."

"All because of a certain team captain," beamed Martin proudly as she brushed strands of Whittemore's hair away from his forehead. "And you, I guess."

Rory rolled her eyes, but said to Allison, "It was a group effort. I'm not the only player on the team."

"Moving on," interrupted Whittemore. "We have practice in a few minutes. Well, that is, if you don't have anywhere else to be?"

"Well, I was going to—" Allison started to say.

"Perfect! You're coming!"

As Martin was grabbing Allison's hand, the dark-haired girl turned towards Rory. "Are you coming too?"

"Can't; I have soccer practice," she said apologetically. "But, I'll find you afterwards, okay? I want to introduce you to some of my friends."

Allison nodded eagerly as Martin impatiently pulled her away.

She had to admit; she really liked Allison. She seemed really sweet and genuine; Rory only hoped that her judgment wasn't too off.

Letting loose a sigh, she hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders as she made her way to the girl's locker room to get ready for one of her favorite (and least favorite) things in the whole world: soccer practice.


	3. Taking Flight

**Hello everyone! Here is chapter three of Insomniatic! I'm really having a lot of fun writing about Aurora and her journey, and I hope you all are so far enjoying it too! Before I get started, just a reminder to everyone to review! You know the drill!** **J** **P.S. See if you can figure out the comic/TV names I sneaked into the story!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Wolf nor do I own Marvel/DC, Power Rangers, or HP.**

 ** _Italicized_** **= Aurora's thoughts**

As Aurora was walking into the girl's locker room to get changed for practice, she felt someone grab her arm and pull her back around the corner. Turning around so she could give whoever grabbed her a piece of her mind, Rory realized it was Scott who seized her, leading to her slapping him in the arm.

"SCOTT! You idiot, you just about gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry Rory," he apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She sighed, rubbing a hand on her forehead. "Then why did you grab me? You know I have soccer practice in five minutes, and _you_ have lacrosse soon too!"

Scott went straight to the point. "Why were you talking to the new girl, Allison? We all know how much trouble you have with talking to new people, so why were you chatting with her?"

"She looked like she needed a friend," said Rory, shrugging her shoulders. She knew she had to look oblivious, or otherwise he was going to catch on to what she was trying to do. "Besides, I think that Erica would really like her. Same with Isaac; Boyd might need a little convincing, but I think he will like her too."

Scott still looked suspicious, so she said, "Relax Scott, I honestly like her. She might be a little too sweet, but she's a genuine human being. You know that goes a long way with me, so I thought I would volunteer myself as someone who could show her around and introduce her to some new people."

"Although," she continued, smirking. "If you're worried that I'm going to say something bad about you to her…"

"NO!"

At the sound of his raised voice, the two both looked around to see if anyone had heard him, but no one was around. Bringing his voice back down to a lower level, Scott continued, "No, that's okay. I'm good, you don't have to do that."

"Glad we're on the same page," said Rory, still smirking at her cousin. "If that's all, I really have to go get ready for practice. Good luck with your practice too, by the way."

She gave Scott a quick hug before walking towards the locker room once more.

"RORY!"

She turned around to see Scott looking down while scuffing his toe a little bit. "Would you be willing to… I don't know… saying something about me to her? Since you're now her friend and all?"

Smiling a genuine smile at her cousin, Rory said to him, "Yeah, of course I will. You know I just want you to be happy, right Scott?"

Scott smiled back at her. "I know; same goes for you. I want you to be happy as well."

"Thanks Scott, you're the best," she said bashfully. "Okay, now I really have to go."

"Good luck," said her cousin. "Kick ass out there."

"You know it," Rory told him, grinning as she rushed into the locker room while Scott headed back over to the boy's locker room.

* * *

As she ran out onto the field, Rory took a deep breath, taking in the smell of fresh grass and rust from the goal posts. Before the cancer, she used to be one of the best soccer players of her age group. However, after she was considered 'cancer-free', Rory had to work her way back to the top. It was hard, but she managed to do it, which was why her teammates named her one of the captains this year. She knew that she had a lot to live up to, considering the girls' soccer team had won state her freshman year and the year before that. Rory, however, knew she was up to the challenge.

That was, until the cancer showed signs of returning.

But today, Rory noticed that she actually felt… _good_. She felt like she could run 10 miles, considering she had felt like shit when she was roaming through the woods with the boys last night.

Shaking off her thoughts, Rory immediately began stretching and watched as her two favorite boys ran over to the lacrosse field opposite the soccer field. To her immediate surprise, she could overhear Stiles telling Scott that if he plays, he'll have no one to talk to on the bench.

Rory also heard Scott tell Stiles that he was sick of being on the sidelines, before she got a good whiff of cinnamon. Knowing who was wearing it, she turned to the sidelines where she saw Erica sitting with Boyd in the stands, waiting to watch her and Isaac, who was also on the lacrosse team.

Grinning, she waved to the two of them. While Erica enthusiastically waved back, Boyd gave her a nod. He was never really outward with his emotions anyways.

Her surprise kept building, however, when she got a whiff of something that smelled like a bakery and Juicy Couture perfume. Aurora watched as Allison and Lydia made their way onto the stands and sat not too far from where her friends were.

Waving to the brunette, she pointed at Erica and Boyd and mouthed _my friends_. Allison grinned and nodded as she settled in next to the redhead, who gave the blonde a fierce look. Aurora returned the look in interest before the loud and shrill whistle from her coach broke her concentration and made her wince in pain.

"All right ladies, listen up!" yelled Coach Ellie Grant as Aurora and the rest of the team sat around her. "It's a new year, so that means new players and new moves! Since all of our senior captains graduated last year, we have assigned new ones for this season. Before we start practice, I'd like to introduce them to you! First off, Meghan Morse!"

Aurora watched as Meghan, a redhead like Lydia but much sweeter, waved to the team before sitting back down in the grass.

"Next, we have Caroline Danvers!"

The honey blonde stood up and nodded to the group before sitting down again. The team had always known Carol as stoic, but she was still an excellent player.

"Next is Karen Beecher!"

Karen, an African-American with a fierce loyalty to the team, stood up and smiled at everyone before sitting back down once more.

"And finally, our MVP from last season. She has truly shown how dedicated she is to this team by working her butt off after recovering from a recent bout of cancer. I give you your final team captain, Aurora Gallagher!"

A big cheer came up from all the girls as Rory bashfully stood up and bowed to the group, her cheeks flaming red. It pleased her that Coach thought so highly of her, and that the girls approved of her being captain as well.

"Take note of how this girl plays ladies," advised Coach Grant, staring sternly down at the group. "She's the one to look out for. All right, enough chit chat. Let's go play some soccer!"

The group of girls cheered as they all got up, brushed the grass off of their shin pads, and raced to the middle of the field. Aurora was just about to head over to her spot in center field when Coach called her name again. Turning around, she quickly ran back over to her, looking confused.

"Yeah, Coach?"

"I was just wondering how you were feeling today…"

"I… feel fine, Coach. Feel great, actually."

"Are you sure? Because, if you don't feel up to playing, I can always put Hart or Kwan in for you."

Realization washed over her in that instance. "My brother put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Actually, it was your aunt." Coach Grant was never one to lie to her players. "She told me that you had shown signs of your cancer returning, and she was just worried about you."

"I promise you, Coach, I feel fine," Rory assured her. "If I do feel like I'm going to faint at anytime, I'll let you know, okay?"

"I'll hold you to that, Gallagher. Now, get out there and show me that I'm not making a mistake."

"You got it, Coach!" exclaimed Aurora, saluting her as she ran back to center field. While running back, she nearly stumbled in shock as she heard a snippet of conversation between Allison and Lydia.

"Who is that?" asked the brunette, staring at something in particular. Turning her head slightly, Rory noticed that it was Scott she was staring at. Apparently, Coach Finstock has him playing goalie today.

 _Hmm, maybe it won't be as hard as I thought, hooking up Scott and Allison…_

"Him?" Lydia looked confused as she turned to also look at her cousin. "I'm not sure who he is."

 _Bitch, you've only known him since kindergarten…_ thought Rory mutinously. To her surprise, she also noticed that Scott was apparently listening in to their conversation as well.

 _What the hell is going on?!_

"Why?"

"He's in my English class."

Just then, the lacrosse referee blew on his whistle, causing both Scott and Aurora to double over in pain. It felt like their heads were vibrating!

As soon as the whistle stopped blowing, Aurora managed to look up in time to see Scott get hit in the head with the lacrosse ball.

 _Ouch, that's gotta hurt!_

"Oh my god, is he okay?" asked Meghan worriedly. Having known Aurora for a long time because of soccer, Meghan also came to know Scott really well and thought of him as like the brother she never had.

"I hope so, otherwise, he's in for it," replied Karen.

Aurora could only watch nervously as Scott got back up again, jumping up and down while shaking out his arms.

"All right ladies, enough watching the boys!" yelled Coach Grant. "Back to practice!"

"Yes, Coach!" the girls shouted back, and with a blow from Coach's whistle, they were off!

Aurora immediately managed to get the ball away from Karen, who was playing as the defending team's center fielder, and passed it over to Meghan, who quickly ran over to the other side. While keeping an eye on where the ball was, Aurora was soon in front of the other goal. "I'm open, I'm open!" she yelled to Mariana Hill, who was currently in possession of the ball.

Seeing her, Mariana kicked the ball high up into the air. Even though she had never even attempted to do something like this in the past, Aurora felt herself jump high up in the air, do some sideway spins, and kick the ball straight past the goalie and into the net.

Once back on the ground, she just stood and stared at where the ball went into the net.

 _Holy shit… did I just do that?!_

Apparently she did, because the next thing she knew, all of her teammates was tackling her to the ground, screaming her praises. She heard Coach from the sidelines screaming "That's my girl!", and she could even hear Erica and Boyd screaming "That's our friend!"

"All right girls," said Rory, laughing breathlessly. "As much as I love this group pile, I need to breathe!"

Apologizing, her teammates let her up, just in time to see Scott make this amazing save against Jackson Whittemore.

Her mouth dropping open in shock, Aurora stood there for a few seconds before letting out a shriek of delight and shouting, "That's my cousin!"

Hearing her, Scott turned towards her and grinned, giving a thumbs up. She beamed and waved back, watching Stiles whoop and cheer "That's my friend!" while Erica and Boyd both did the wave for him. She also watched Lydia cheer him on while giving Jackson a look that didn't make him too happy apparently.

 _Disgusting,_ she thought to herself.

Allison was smiling big at Scott; Aurora could practically see the heart eyes forming on her face.

 _This is going better than I thought._

* * *

"I don't know what it was," Scott was telling Aurora and Stiles as they walked. The three of them were back in the woods again so the two cousins could show their friend where the body was. "It was weird; like, I had all the time in the world to catch the ball."

"You know, that's how I felt when I made that amazing goal today," said Rory, thinking back to practice today. "When Mariana kicked the ball, I felt like I was watching it in slow motion, and then I just jumped. When I did, I just knew that I was going to hit the ball straight into the goal. It was like I was suddenly in _She's the Man_."

"That's not the only thing," Scott continued to say. "I'm hearing things that I shouldn't be—"

"Me too!"

"Smell things—"

"Me too!"

"Wait, hold on," Stiles cut in. "Smell things? Like what?"

The two cousins looked to each other, gave a little sniff, turned back to their friend, and said together, "Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket."

Stiles snorted. "Alright Fred and George, I don't have any—"

He paused when he pulled the gum out of his pocket, causing him to turn back to the cousins in shock.

Scott lifted his arms in a "see?!" manner, and turning around, the cousins continued onwards with Stiles snapping out of it so he could catch up with the two of them. "So," he started to say. "All this started with the bite?"

"What if this is like an infection?" Scott asked, completely ignoring Stiles. "Like our bodies are flooding with adrenaline before we go into shock or something?"

"I don't think it works like that Scott," said Rory, giggling.

"Oh yeah, and how would you know that?"

"Because I'm the resident biology expert?"

It was true; out of all their school subjects, biology was by far Rory's favorite and best subject. Math was her second favorite.

"You know what, I think I've heard of this," Stiles butt in. "It's a specific kind of infection."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Yeah, I think it's called… lycanthropy."

Scott's eyes widen in panic. "What is that? Is that bad?"

Rory rolled her eyes at her cousin. Even she knew that Stiles was completely joking.

Right?

"Oh yeah, it's the worst," says their best friend, nodding. "But, it only happens once a month."

"Once a month?" Scott really sounds confused now.

"Yeah," Rory adds in. "On the night of the full moon."

Stiles lets loose a howl, causing Rory to laugh as she continues towards the spot of the dead body.

Scott hits his best friend in retaliation as they hurry to catch up to her. "Hey, you two were the ones who heard a wolf howling last night," Stiles said to the two.

"Come on Stiles, there could be something seriously wrong with the two of us!" exclaims Scott angrily.

"I know!" Stiles exclaimed back. "You and Rory are werewolves!"

Rory turns backwards to glare at her friend before turning back to the front again. "Okay, obviously I'm kidding," says the shaven-haired brunette. "But, if you see me in shop class, melting all the silver I can find, it's because Friday's a full moon."

Suddenly, the blonde stopped, causing Scott and Stiles to barrel into her. "Scott," she said while crouching down to her knees. "This was where the body was, right?"

"Yeah," he replied slowly, crouching down with her while inspecting the area. "I could've sworn this is it; the body, the deer running. This was where I dropped my inhaler."

"Maybe the killer moved the body," said Stiles, shrugging his shoulders.

"If he did, I hope he left my inhaler," Scott stated as he continued to look around. "Those things cost, like, eighty bucks."

Unexpectedly, Stiles hit the two on their backs, getting them to stand up. Turning around, Aurora felt her jaw drop as she looked into a face she hadn't seen in years.

"What are you doing here?" Derek Hale asked the trio as he walked towards them. "This is private property!"

The blonde turned to look at her friends; Scott looked apprehensive, while Stiles looked like he just got a massive boner.

 _Hmm… interesting…_

"Sorry man, we didn't know," Stiles hastened to explain to the older boy.

"Yeah, we were just looking for something," said Scott. "But, uh, forget it."

It was then that Derek pulled something from out of his pocket, and chucked it at her cousin. To his and Rory's surprise, it was his inhaler.

He began to walk away when Rory ran up to him. "Derek?"

He turns around, surprised at the mention of his name.

"Derek, it's me," she says, pointing to herself. "Aurora. You know, Zach's little sister?"

"Aurora?" he asked, looking shocked to see the little blonde girl who he had come to see as another sister all grown up.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked him. "Where's Laura?'

"She's… uh… she's at the hospital," stuttered Derek, confirming Rory's suspicion. She could always tell when he and her brother were lying. "Yeah, she's visiting our uncle right now."

She slowly nodded, buying into his story for now. "Well, whenever you're free, you should stop by the house. Zach's going to be home this weekend, and I know he misses you."

She caught a glimpse of sadness on Derek's face at the mention of her brother before it smoothed back over into his broody look. "Yeah, I'll… I'll think about it. I'll see you later, Aurora." With that, he walked away.

Aurora watched him leave, knowing he was lying about his sister while Scott told them that they needed to get going or he was going to be late for work. She knew she had to get going too, or she was going to miss the little get-together she was hosting for Allison and the rest of her friends. She was about to follow him when Stiles held them back with his arm.

"Dude!" he exclaimed. "That was Derek Hale!"

Scott looked confused as Stiles continued on, "You remember, right? He's only a few years older than us. Actually, he's around Zach's age."

Stiles then turned to the only girl in the group, looking suspicious. "How do you know him so well?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "He's been Zach's best friend since forever. I basically considered him as another older brother since he came over so much. Plus, I was good friends with his little sister, Cora. But, after the fire, Zach lost contact with him and we never saw him and his sister, Laura, again. They didn't even come back for Mom and Carlos's funeral."

"What fire?" asked Scott confusedly.

"His family burned to death in a fire, like, 10 years ago?" said Stiles, gaping in disbelief at the idiocy of his best friend.

"Wonder what he's doing back?"

Aurora wondered too as she stared back to where Derek disappeared. "Guys?" Her two favorite boys turned to look back at her.

"That thing about his sister being at the hospital? That was a lie."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked his cousin.

"You remember how I said that I think I knew who the girl was?" The boys nodded.

"It was Laura Hale," Rory told them while staring at the spot where Derek used to be. "Derek's older sister. That's who the dead girl was."


End file.
